Facebook’s Motion to Dismiss Denied A federal court in Texas denied Facebook’s motion to dismiss or transfer to California a declaratory judgment suit filed by Lamebook, a self-described parody website that Facebook asserts is infringing its trademarks. New Jersey Supreme Court on Defamatory Comments The New Jersey Supreme court held recently that a person who… Continue Reading

Earlier this year, U.S. Senators John Kerry (D-Mass.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.) introduced S. 799, the “Commercial Privacy Bill of Rights Act of 2011,” which would establish, for the first time in the United States, a comprehensive framework for the collection, use, storage, and transfer of covered information. If passed as currently drafted, the bill would… Continue Reading

Twitpic, a user-generated content service that simplifies the process of sharing photographs and other media through Twitter, came under fire earlier this year for changes to its Terms of Service that appeared to dramatically expand the rights granted to Twitpic by its users— and that were described by some media outlets as a “copyright grab.”… Continue Reading

In our February 2011 issue of Socially Aware, we reported that, at the end of 2010, Facebook had revamped its Promotions Guidelines (the “Guidelines”) to eliminate the requirement that approval be obtained from Facebook prior to offering sweepstakes, contests or similar promotions in connection with one’s Facebook page. More recently, Facebook substantially streamlined its Guidelines, which… Continue Reading

Although common law generally holds publishers responsible for the content that they publish, the Communications Decency Act (“CDA”) gives website operators broad protection from liability for content posted by users. Courts have applied the CDA in favor of website owners in nearly 200 cases, including cases involving Google, Facebook, MySpace, and even bloggers for content… Continue Reading

Section 512(f) of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (“DMCA”) imposes liability on those who abuse the DMCA’s notice and take-down procedures by making knowingly false claims of copyright infringement. Courts have issued sanctions on overly zealous copyright owners based on this provision, such as in the case of a voting technology firm that knowingly issued meritless… Continue Reading

Consumers often turn to the Internet for reviews before purchasing products or services, and companies are increasingly interested in ensuring that such reviews reflect positively and accurately on their businesses. When patients post negative or allegedly inaccurate reviews about their doctors on the Internet, however, doctors are often prevented from responding due to ethical obligations… Continue Reading

“Crowdfunding” or “crowdsourced funding” is a new outgrowth of social media that provides an emerging source of funding for a variety of ventures. Crowdfunding works based on the ability to pool money from individuals who have a common interest and are willing to provide small contributions toward the venture, which potentially collectively add up to… Continue Reading

About Socially Aware

Social media sites are transforming not only the daily lives of consumers, but also how companies interact with consumers. Here at Morrison & Foerster, across all of our practice groups, we are seeing complex, cutting-edge legal issues arising out of social media. As with the Internet boom during the mid-to-late 1990s, social media is generating new legal questions at a far faster pace than the law’s ability to provide answers to such questions. In an effort to stay on top of these emerging issues, and to keep our clients and friends informed of new developments, Morrison & Foerster publishes this blog devoted to the law and business of social media.

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We are Morrison & Foerster — a global firm of exceptional credentials. Our clients include some of the largest financial institutions, investment banks, Fortune 100, technology and life science companies. We’ve been included on The American Lawyer’s A-List for 12 straight years, Chambers Global named MoFo its 2013 USA Law Firm of the Year, and Chambers USA named the firm both its 2013 Intellectual Property and Bankruptcy Firm of the Year. In addition, BTI named MoFo among its 2013 Brand Elite. Our lawyers are committed to achieving innovative and business-minded results for our clients, while preserving the differences that make us stronger.

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